My initial response to this influx of new imagery was quite stimulating, but as time wore on, something seemed lacking. I couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something was wrong with what I was viewing - the thrill was gone. Becoming less and less satisfied with the usual run-of-the-mill images, I began to seek out more unconventional images. This lead me down a dark path, where I left the comfortable confines of the local BBSs and started associating with seedy characters on a major online service. It wasn't long before I realized I could get any kind of images I wanted; I could experiment to my heart's content and find new images that brought back the old rush I've been without for so long. Some of what I tried made me sick, some did nothing for me, and finally I found images that put me in a nirvana-like state of bliss. I became obsessed and it took over my life. I would not sleep, nor eat nor go to school; my life was deteriorating, yet I was happy as long as I could get my fix. I would log on, find an image trader and we'd both stay online for hours exchanging collections.

Finally, I found out that the information removed by a perceptual compression algorithm is actually used by your brain to acknowledge the arrival of the information. Once it is removed, your mind no longer realizes it is being stimulated and starts to demand more information to make up for what was lost. It's like eating cotton candy, sure it looks big and fluffy, but it can't whet your appetite because it has little substance; you'd have to eat tons of it. This explains why people are so obsessed with JPEGs and MP3s on the Internet. Now that I understand my addiction, I'm doing better as a person and on my way to becoming a productive member of society.